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Curio
The Curio is one of the oldest magical items in Oberin, composed of three pieces that, when put together, form a sphere. Just like any old magical item, the stories around it are sometimes contradictory. One version says that the Curio is a piece of the moon fallen on earth, sent by the Goddess of Life to Elara in order to give her the power to defeat the Black Plague. Another version states that the Curio was around long before that time, and that it was used to trap the lich of Neth and to put an end to his reign of terror. Where mythology and history meet, the chronology is necessarily contradictory. One thing is certain: at some point, after the death of Dethras (even though his connection with the story is unclear), the Curio was thought to be so dangerous in the wrong hands that its three pieces were separated. One piece was kept in Mirith, another in Andris, and a third one in Marali, which enraged the populations of Lerilin and Brogan's Keep. To prove that the latter was safer than Marali, the mage Aborek built a portal to gain access to the vault of the city and steal their third. Being an advanced student of Black Magic as he was, Aborek had also a second intention: he wanted to use the Curio to build the most powerful weapon known up to this day, the Blood Dagger. Marali eventually recovered their part of the Curio (it is unclear where was the Curio during the siege of Marali in 426, or what prevented the Twins from using it to their favour). It was then Andris' turn to lose hers. Gordon Lancaster, after betraying the Senate to which he belonged and declaring himself the king of Andris, was ready to use the Curio to become the most powerful man in Oberin. Not being a wizard, he needed someone to awaken the piece of the moon for him, which meant the kidnapping of Serene, one of Elara's heirs. The plan did not work out so well, and Serene was eventually rescued, however, he did have the time to use the woman's talents to gather some of the Curio's power. Therefore, when Andris was liberated, Lancaster fled to the sea taking the Curio with him. Far away from the shore, with the magic of the Curio, he built a place to hide, that is now known as the Ice Dungeon. When Lancaster was finally killed, the Andrisian third of the Curio could not be recovered. It was only years later that the mage Alastor, who used to research on ancient objects, discovered that the same third was feeding the power of an entity known as the Eye, who had a cult of followers in Duldrus. The Eye priests had been able to remove the Curio from the Ice Dungeon by using a golden fleece to wrap it (otherwise too strong for a human to bear carrying). The battle against the Eye was one of the bloodiest in the history of Oberin, however, with the combined efforts of many people gathered under the lead of Zexe, Birek McCalla and Beleth, with the help of Marthonis, and with Alastor's information, Mirith was able to recover the Curio and, shortly after, to return it to Andris. The three pieces of the Curio remained safe for many years, with one notable exception. During the Fall of Mirith in 438, the city's ex-Duchess Tirana attempted to steal the Mirith piece. To prevent this, a party of brave and selfless adventurers descended deep below the city, to the ancient ruins of Oberin City within in Crausaar's Descent. They activated a magical rune directly beneath the location of the Curio piece, losing their lives in the process. But the Curio was safe, and Mirith would eventually be freed from Tirana's clutches. Marali would not be so lucky. In the middle of the Second Ice War, the armies of Vandrovic conquered the city. It is unknown if they made any attempts on the Curio piece, or if they would even be able to use it. Whatever had happened, the city was liberated early in 442, without any indication that the Curio had been used. But just as the battle ended, an agent of A.R.D.E.N.T. was seen emerging from inside the fort, wiping dust and debris from his shoulder. Moments later, a guard came running out of the vaults, shouting out that the Curio was nowhere to be found. He also stated that it was practically impossible to look for any evidence or clues, as the entire area was covered with mountains of debris – just like the debris on the agent's shoulder. This being the case, many have suspected that A.R.D.E.N.T. used the liberation of Marali to steal the Curio, but the evidence is only circumstantial. The city of Marali itself has unofficially maintained a policy of silence on the whole affair, and the fate of the missing piece remains a mystery to the general public. To the best of our knowledge, Andris and Mirith still remain in control of their respective thirds. But one never knows... Category:Historical Item